BANGKOK (REUTERS) - Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, is continuing his recovery in hospital following surgery to remove his gallbladder earlier this month, the palace said in a statement on Friday.

Bhumibol's health is a subject of keen public concern. He is revered by many Thais and his portrait hangs in every government building and in many shops and homes.

Doctors have stopped administering medicine and nutrition intravenously, the information division of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary said in the first statement for a week on the king's health.

The king's temperature, breathing and blood pressure were all normal, the statement said.

The 86-year-old king was admitted to a Bangkok hospital late on Oct 3.

The health of Bhumibol has formed the backdrop to a complex crisis being fought out between Thailand's rival business and political elites. He is widely seen as a unifying figure and moral arbiter among Thais.